Are you Getting Your Fair Share of Time Off Work?

August 23rd, 2007 Wade

Anyone who has discussed vacation time with friends in foreign countries (other than the US) has experienced that pain in the gut after hearing things like… “What? You only get 15 days off? That’s horrible!”…. Then you ask the question..”Well how much time do you get?” And the reply is always a little blurry to remember because you pass out immediately afterward, falling to the floor and hitting your head.

Mercer Resources performed a study recently on this subject. (Time-off, not passing out) They have published the results of 44 countries they polled. The results are crazy and were used on CNN recently. Here are the juiciest parts.

• The US ranks 39th out of the 44 polled
• The US gets an average of 15 vacation and 10 holidays, totaling 25 days off a year
• Finland gets 30 vacation days and 14 holidays, topping the list with 44 days off
• Indians get 19 paid holidays
• Along with Finland, United Arab Emirates and France also get 30 vacation days per year
• 35 of the 44 countries get 20 or more vacation days per year
• 9 of the 44 countries get 15 or more paid holidays per year
• 34 of the 44 countries get 30 or more total days off per year

The figures above are “averages” for each country. Proceed to vomit.

Entry Filed under: General